The Seer
by Cute Gallifreyan
Summary: Mackenzie Dalton is a young woman who 'sees' things that others can't in ordinary everyday objects. Her life is a mess when one day she meets a man in a blue box. 10th Doctor. [Complete]
1. From the diary of Mackenzie Dalton

**A/N: Another plot bunny in my head. I am not sure where I'll get with this but I thought this was an 'interesting idea' and so I decided to write it. I hope you like the story. I don't own Doctor Who, but Mackenzie….well she's another story. Please R/R and tell me what you think. **

**XXXXX**

**The Seer**

**From the diary of Mackenzie Dalton **

My name is Mackenzie Dalton, but most of the time people call me Mack for short. And I am twenty years old. Now before you go thinking I am certifiably crazy. I want you to hear me out. I have had troubles ever since I was a kid. You see, I 'see' things. Now wait a minute. Don't shrug your shoulders and say I am mental or something, it's true. I have had this problem when I was a kid. Some might call it an overactive mind, or that I suffer from a nervous paranoia. And they might be right about that. I don't feel that I am always right about the things I 'see' but I still see them. It started when I was a girl, I'd see monsters in the shadows, things in the closet. Mum would tell me it was just my imagination and she turn on a nightlight for me or I'd end up in bed with her. But it only got worse as I got older. Random objects like trees, cars, rocks. I'd see things in them. Monsters or creepy things with leering eyes wanting to hurt me or others; but if I walked up to the object and touched it, it was just an ordinary everyday object. Now you can see how this affected me. I was a nervous wreck growing up. So nervous and terrified, I'd jump at just about everything. Not to mention, I didn't get too much sleep, or food, not to mention my social life was nonexistent. Who wants to hang around a girl that is basically the equivalent of Cole Sear from the Sixth Sense? Not that I can't blame them. I wouldn't want to hang around myself, if I had the choice. Course my mum took me to a shrink, and all he did was listen, give me pills and tell me that would help. But I always had that creepy, eerie feeling like I was being watched by something. Something was alive in those objects. Course the pills would help me sleep and feel better but then I'd get unnerved when I didn't 'see' anything at all. I was still certain that something was out to get me or out to get others. So here I am a twenty year old, nervous paranoid freak. Yea, I am entitled to call myself a freak. And my life, well it's not too great either. Figure it out; I have been in counseling more times than I can count. Not to mention, the times I have been in a hospital for my paranoia. But then I met someone, a man in a blue box and my life changed even more.


	2. The Bookstore

**Chapter Two: The Bookstore**

I work at a bookstore; actually it's my mum's used bookstore, which handles rare and hard to find books. But since it's my mother's business, I got dragged into the family business. Which is alright for me, besides there isn't too much damage a troubled young adult can get into with books, right? My mum hopes that some dashing young guy will come in, take notice and well….you know mothers, they start playing matchmaker. But I know I really don't have much of a chance. For one, I look like a person from a prison camp. I don't eat well, or sleep well, for obvious reasons. I don't get out much and if I do it's generally a trip to the hospital or to see another shrink. So I am a young person that's very thin, has wispy brown hair, very pale skin, and very wide terrified eyes. Sometimes they are blood shot, due to lack of sleep. I survive though. What keeps me going, I don't know? Perhaps it's because I don't want to die, but life terrifies me enough. But what chance to do I have with any guys? I look sick and considering the circumstances, I think I am. So I stock books on shelves, or handle customers.

Anyway, I was at the register. My eyes were closed. I think I dozed off a bit, business was really slow anyway. Suddenly a customer rapped on the counter to get my attention. "Miss….Miss…" I opened my eyes and saw a tall lanky guy. Brown hair, brown eyes, wore a pinstriped suit, and a brown trench coat. He grinned at me, "Bit early in the day to doze off, isn't it?"

"I don't sleep well at night."

"Ahh, no offense but you look like hell."

I snorted, "Hey…." I know I look like hell but, it's one thing to have a customer tell you that. I resisted the urge to throw back a snappy come back and said, "Can I help you?"

"Yes….I am looking for a book." I rolled my eyes. "Gee, we have hundreds of books; can you perhaps be a bit more descriptive?"

"It's kind of hard to describe. It's out of print. I don't really remember the title."

"Oh that helps…"

"I just know that I really need this book, it's very important."

I sighed and got up out of my seat, "Well out of print books are in the back."

He grinned, "Thanks…"

He wandered to the back of the store and I decided to follow him. Meanwhile, I see the bookshelves loom over us. Not again, I think. Plus the books, with their white clean pages look like rows of vicious teeth. My heart rate is already speeding up. And my customer is causally looking over the books and chunks one aside after another.

Suddenly I swear I see the bookshelf move, it's going to kill us.

I scream and he looks at me oddly. The shelf looms over us and I push him out of the way. And the shelf does crash down, right exactly where we were.

A pile of books are all over the floor and I get up off of him and he dusts himself off. He looks at me, "You really ought to have those shelves bolted to the floor that could have killed us."

I am shivering like a leaf and I say in a shaky voice, "They are bolted."

He goes over and looks at the bottom of the shelves and he frowns, "Hmmm….you're right….ummm…"

"Mackenzie."

He then grins and picks up a weathered dog eared book off the floor, "I found it…."

Suddenly my mother comes into the shop, she was out shopping and she comes running in like she's some search and rescue person. Typical. I am inches away from death and she comes a moment later, after I could have been killed. "Mack, Oh my God that could have killed you." She smoothers me in hugs and my customer grins lightly. "Mum I am alright."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes I am sure, I am standing here, aren't I?"

Although inwardly I am not okay and then she says, "This isn't one of those 'moments' you're having, is it?"

I shook my head in the affirmative and then negatively. Normally my objects aren't out to kill me. They just loom over me and scare the living shit out of me. But then again there is a first time. The customer raises his eyebrows at my mum's words and then at me.

"Oh my God, Mack, I knew this was going to happen one of these days. I knew you'd turn psychotic on me and try to kill someone."

My eyes went wide, "I didn't try to kill him, Mum. It just happened."

The customer laughs a bit but his eyes are still on me, "I think I ought to know if someone was trying to kill me. I have been around a long time and it's like she said it just happened."

I gave my mother a smug look. At least someone believes me. He then grins, "Anyway, your daughter was going to ring this up for me." He holds up the book in his hand. My mother sighs and began to clean up the mess off the floor.

I nodded and we go over to the register and I ring it up for him. "Charge it to my account." He pulls out a wallet and shows me a piece of paper. It's white and I don't see anything at all. I frown, "That's no credit card, Mister. That's just a blank piece of paper."

He frowns as he looks at me. "That's impossible…."

I snorted, "Yea, a white piece of paper is impossible."

He looks at me firmly, "What is this about these 'moments'?"

I shook my head, "Oh no…you're not another shrink, are ya? That's all I need….another doctor telling me that there's something wrong with my head."

He grinned, "No I am not a 'shrink' but…I am a Doctor."

**XXX**

**Okay here's my next chapter. I hope you like it. Please R/R **


	3. The Doctor

**Chapter Three: The Doctor **

He speaks to me and says, "Now I know the psychic paper works on most people…so….something's not right about you Mackenzie…." He picks up a business card that has the name of our shop on it 'Dalton's Books.' He pauses in sentence as he looks at the card that has my mother's name and mine on it and then he picks up where he left off, "Something's not right with you Mackenzie Dalton. Why'd you scream when you did?"

I roll my eyes, "I screamed because I was scared out of my mind."

"Mind, exactly. Tell me Mackenzie Dalton, what's going on in that mind of yours?"

"God you are a shrink…." I glare at him, "Leave me alone. I have been poked and prodded enough."

"What are you afraid of Ms. Dalton?"

I don't want to be questioned, all my life I have had questions thrown at me from various doctors and even my own mum, for crying out loud. "Leave me alone, damn it. Just leave me alone. You're not the first person to ask me…" Tears are pouring down my face.

He sighs, "I am sorry, force of habit. Please forgive me."

My crying and raising of voices brings my mother around. "Mack….what's the matter?"

"Nothings the matter, I am just tired that's all."

She rubs me across the shoulder, "Maybe you should go home and try and get some rest, love." Meanwhile the man smiles and I am not sure if it's a sympathetic smile or what. It's like he understands something that I don't. It's kind of eerie actually. Not as eerie as the things I see in the objects but eerie just the same.

Anything to get me away from the insane questioning this man has been throwing at me. "I think I'll do that…" I throw on my coat and go outside. Our flat isn't too far away; hopefully no more shadows or objects will follow me. But as I leave, the man follows me.

"Mackenzie….."

I turn, damn it, can't this guy take a hint? "Didn't I say to leave me alone?"

"Yes, you did. And I am sorry I badgered you before. Can I make it up to you?"

"How?"

"Oh I don't know. Milkshake? Chips?"

"You better have something other than a blank piece of paper to pay for it with."

He chuckles lightly, "Hold on a sec…"

He went over to a cash point and looking around to make sure no one was around he took out a small metal tube, it made a buzzing sound and few slips of paper money came out.

My mouth drops open, "Hey….that's stealing."

"Hush….or do you want to pay?"

"No…"

"Then hush. I don't normally carry currency on me."

I laugh, what kind of man was this that didn't have any money on him. He smiles, "You're laughing. You think that's funny."

I have to admit that it was kind of funny that he doesn't have any money on him but then I say, "What was that thing you used? Is that some sort of monopoly thingy, you know, 'go past go collect 200?'

He laughs, "Kind of….it's called a sonic screwdriver. It's your basic 'Get out of jail free' card."

I smile and laugh a bit more. I don't remember smiling or even laughing that much in my life. It's kind of hard to smile or laugh when you grow up thinking ever object is out to get you.

He takes me by the hand, I shudder lightly. He frowns, "What's the matter?"

"Nothing…"

He looks at me giving me a look that basically said, 'it's more than nothing. Please tell me'

I sigh, "Look….ummm."

"Doctor."

I frown, "Doctor…..Doctor Who?"

"Just the Doctor…"

"Doctor…." I pause, what kind of freak is this and I voice it, "God, I have found someone that's even more screwed up in the head than I am."

He smiles lightly but doesn't say anything. Walking down the sidewalk, I am starting to see things again. Behind every bush, every tree, every rock, every car even. Things are out there, they are out to get me. A car…a car is moving towards. It's angry mouth gaping open towards us. It's coming, coming right at us. My mouth is open and I scream… I push the Doctor out of the way before an oncoming car slams right into a nearby building. He looks up at me from the ground. A grin on his face, what the hell is he grinning about? There's nothing funny about this, not one bit. A man comes out of the car, "I lost control of it….I am sorry. I don't know what happened. The breaks just failed on me."

The Doctor says amusedly, "We're fine….I think we're fine, aren't we, Mackenzie?"

At this point in time, I am such a nervous wreck that I am shaking all over the place. I don't even remember what happened after that because everything went stark black on me. I guess I passed out.


	4. The TARDIS

**Chapter Four: The TARDIS**

As I came around, a strange feeling came over me. For once in my life I felt peaceful. No shadows hanging over me, no objects looming over me. It's like; well it's like feeling an ultimate feeling of peace. I sigh; it's a sigh of relief. I also realize that this is the first time I have had a proper sleep, the first in sixteen years of my life. I am laying in a bed, no clue where I am exactly and then suddenly I see the Doctor, and he grins, "Hello….."

I nearly jump out of the bed, "Oh my God, how long was I out? Mum's going to be worried sick."

"I'd say a good sixteen hours, give or take. You've acted like you haven't slept in years."

My eyes go wide, "Oh my God, my mum will freak. She's probably called the police and everything."

The Doctor chuckled, "Probably."

"It's not funny. I am her problem child. She probably thinks I have committed suicide or that I have been abducted or something."

"Mackenzie-Whimsy calm down."

"You don't understand, my mum. She's probably called the hospital too, be just like her too, there will be an all points bulletin or something, 'Warning be on the lookout for Mackenzie Dalton, psychologically disturbed woman.'"

The Doctor grins, "Psychologically disturbed. Why?"

"Do we have to talk about this now? I don't feel like getting my mind pricked, okay."

"Fair enough, just one quick question. Why does death follow you?"

"What!"

"You heard me, that's two times you have saved my life, and just a few minutes apart from each other. The first time, a shelf came unbolted and nearly crushed us both. The next time someone lost control of their car and almost crushed us both, if you hadn't pushed me and yourself out of the way, we would have both died. That's not normal, not for a human, yea maybe once or twice, if you're lucky, but what is it Mackenzie Dalton? What is it that caused you to react like that?"

I grumble, "I just knew, okay."

"Yea….sure..." The Doctor pauses for a moment and then says "You can trust me, Mack. I am not a 'shrink'. I am not going to dope you up with drugs and tell you it's going to make you 'feel' better. But since you do not really want to talk about it, we'll start slowly okay. Tell me Mack, you live with your mother, I assume. Where's your father?"

I roll my eyes, "Since when do you want to know my life history?"

"Since when do you go around knowing when death is around the corner?"

I am getting annoyed. This guy is getting a bit personal. I barely know him, "What gives you the right to ask?"

"I have every right, Mackenzie Dalton."

I say sarcastically, "I am scared out of my wits. Is that a threat, Doctor?"

"Normally, but you obviously don't get it. There's something wrong with you, I am trying to help you."

"Since when did I ask for your help?"

The Doctor sighs, "You want to go outside, be my guest. But it's a scary world out there and death is right around the corner."

I shiver lightly and the Doctor grins, "Ah, so you are scared."

"Yes I am scared, and where am I? Your flat?"

"Kind of….your in the TARDIS."

"The what?"

"The TARDIS, it stands for Time and Relative Dimensions in Space."

"Huh? I have no idea what that means."

"My ship, it's called the TARDIS

"Your ship….you mean like a boat?"

"No, I mean like a space ship."

"You're nuts. If this is a space ship, then you're an…."

"Yep."

I roll my eyes, "You're mental; that's what you are."

"You're a fine one to talk, Mackenzie Dalton. You did say you were psychologically disturbed."

"Yea, but at least I know I am ill, you on the other hand…."

"Who said you were ill? I don't think you're ill."

"You're nice to think that, Doctor. But I am ill."

He put a hand on my shoulder, "Mackenzie….you've been around way too many doctors. It's time you found the right one."

**XXXX**

**A/N: Here's the next chapter. And I hope you like it. Please R/R**


	5. Getting to Know You

**Chapter Five: Getting to Know You **

We're sitting in a kitchen and he pours me a cup of tea. But he almost spills it on me. I get the impression that if he did this on an everyday basis he'd end up burning something. I can't imagine a guy burning a cup of tea but I guess it could happen.

He puts a hand on my shoulder, "Please Mackenzie….don't be afraid of me."

Like that's going to ease my nerves, here I am with a guy who believes he's an alien, and he looks perfectly human to me. Maybe this is some new counseling technique. The Doctor smiles, "I know you don't believe me Mack. I know you think I am some crazy guy." He grins lightly, "But this is only going to get easier if you just tell me something."

"You're damn persistent and you're right, I don't believe you. What makes you think that you can help me? I don't buy it."

"Mackenzie-Whimsy, why did you sleep sixteen hours straight?"

I shrug; I don't have a clue really and he answers, "You've been kept safe by the TARDIS. It lets you sleep."

"What do you mean lets….me sleep?"

The Doctor smiles, like he's hiding a secret but not willing to tell me everything all at once, "Be truthful Mack, when was the last time you actually got a decent night's sleep?"

I don't answer but he then states, "If I let you go….do you honestly think you're going to sleep properly again?"

I shudder, the thought of going home and trying to sleep but not sleeping fully, weighs on me. "Oh God…." I shiver and shake some more.

The Doctor nods, "So….if you want me to help you sleep. You better start talking, Mack."

I am quite sullen and I feel like pouring the tea down the nape of his neck, just for spite. I am quiet for the longest and he's quiet as well. Silence. Just silence and the low of hum of something, something mechanical, but not mechanical, it reverberates throughout the kitchen.

How long do we just sit here and not talk? I am not exactly sure, but the Doctor is patient. He seems to understand that I don't feel like talking at the moment. I finish my tea and he finishes his. "We could do this tomorrow, if you don't feel like it."

"And my mum?"

"Don't you have a mobile? You could call her."

"I do but I can't abide those things, I always leave it at the shop or at home, or I hide it somewhere. Mum keeps insisting I carry it but I don't want one. They freak me out. No offense, but I have you hounding me enough. Why do I want one of those with me? All I'd get would be her hounding me from it. I'd hear her call and say: 'Mackenzie, did you take your medicine? Mackenzie, where are you? Mackenzie, it's time for your appointment.' Gah, that would make me even more paranoid."

The Doctor laughs, "I see. What else freaks you out?"

I bite my lip, "Just about everything."

He grins, "I am not surprised. What with falling bookshelves and crashing cars. I'd be freaked out as well. I'd like to know more about you, Mack."

"Why?"

"Because I know there's more to you than just a girl that doesn't sleep well or freaks out about mobiles or your mother."

"All right, only if you'll tell me more about your self, Mr. I-am-so-smart-Doctor-person."

He laughs, "Are you always this…."

"This what?"

"Paranoid and sarcastic. I have been trying to get to know you for hours and….your tighter than a blooming drum."

"Pretty much, some strangers freak me out as well. And as far as I know, you're a stranger."

He smiles, "I see. Well I suppose I should try and alleviate some of your anxiety."

"Might work, might not." I say with a light grin.

"Oooh the lady's cheeky. Paranoid but cheeky, I like that. Let me see what can I tell you about myself that won't freak you out." The Doctor smiles and then says, "Basically everything. It would all freak you out."

I shrug, basically telling him to go ahead and try; he says amusedly, "I have two hearts."

I laugh, "Yea, like that freaks me out."

"I do."

"That's a good one. I bet you tell everyone you meet that one."

The Doctor smiles and he said, "It's true though, have a listen."

I frown and he grins, "Put your head on my chest."

I raise an eyebrow, "Okaaay…." I put my head on his chest where his heart was and I hear a low thud of his heart. He carefully took his hands and moves it over away from where his heart was and I hear another thudding. I frown, "What the hell?"

The Doctor grinned, "I told ya."

"No way can you have two hearts."

"Now you're just going into denial. Is that what you always do, when something unusual happens, you go into denial mode?"

I shrug.

The Doctor chuckled, "Typical human. Is that what you do when the 'moments' happen?"

"I don't want to think about it too hard."

"I see….so when it gets too hard for you to understand; you just blank it out of existence or listen and believe what those other stupid doctors tell you."

"Basically, I guess."

The Doctor sighed and shook his head, "Oh Mackenzie, Mackenzie, no wonder you're a nervous wreck." He then grinned, "And yes, I have two hearts. You already know I am an alien. I am from a planet called Gallifrey, maybe you have heard of it?"

I shrug indifferently.

"Oh I see, you're trying to ignore me. Doesn't work like that, Mack. You can't get rid of me that easily."

"I am not trying to ignore you, I just don't care."

The Doctor laughs, "I see. Well since you don't care maybe you should tell me more about yourself."

"Fine, since you won't stop bugging me about it. I just turned twenty. Work at a bookshop, but you know that. My mother's name is Natalie, but you probably know that too. Father…." I sigh, "He died…died when I was almost fourteen."

The Doctor sighs, "I am sorry, what happened? "

"My dad was a business man. He traveled to all sorts of places; Tokyo, Hong Kong, Rio, New York, all sorts of business ventures. I didn't see him much growing up. He was always busy. Always brought back some amazing things from the places he went. I think he was trying to make it up to me and my mum for what he did."

The Doctor smiles, "Sounds like a fascinating guy."

I smile, "Oh he was. But his last trip before he died was to New York and September 2001 on a Tuesday morning and…" I paused and sighed. "He died."

The Doctor cringes, "He died in the Twin Towers…."

I nod sadly.

The Doctor sighs, "I was there. I managed to help out some but…. "

He threw an arm around me, "That was a rough time."

I nod and cry a bit. The Doctor pulls out a handkerchief and I take it and blow my nose and dry my face.

"So did this all start when your father died?"

I shook my head, "No…it started when I was younger."

The Doctor frowned, "How young?"

"Five or Six. I thought I saw monsters in my closet and things in the dark."

The Doctor nods "I see. Most children have that problem."

I snort, "Most people don't see things in the dark, the creeping and the crawling. They don't see things morphing out of inanimate objects. They don't see what I see."

The Doctor grins seeming pleased that I had an outburst like that. "And do they try and kill you?"

"No, that only started when you came in this morning…."

**A/N: Hope you like this chapter and please R/R**


	6. Something in the Darkness

**Chapter Six: Something in the Darkness **

The Doctor looks at me thoughtfully for a moment and then said, "Are you sure?"

"Well…."

The Doctor grins lightly, "Something you forgot?"

"Well there was the time I thought I saw shop dummies come after me and then there was those ghosts…but I found out that it wasn't just me."

The Doctor laughs, "Nah it wasn't just you… you probably freaked out even more, am I right?"

I nod sadly, "I was in counseling for each of those incidents, Doctor. I knew something was no good with those damn ghosts. Everyone was like, so happy. Even my own mum, she kept saying my father was back. I said she was lying, that it was a figure of her imagination. I said my father was dead, and he wasn't coming back. I got slapped on account for that. I am the paranoid delusional and everyone saw something that I didn't. I don't know how she saw my father in all that; I don't know how anyone else could have seen loved ones either. Don't get me wrong, I still had objects and things glaring at me but….that was one thing that didn't fool me one bit."

The Doctor laughed amusedly, "Oh Mackenzie. You're brilliant. If every other human could have sensed that then maybe the human race wouldn't have been so gullible to the fact that they were being invaded."

I snort, "I am not brilliant. I am just tired of seeing things other people don't. I just…well I just want to be like everyone else."

The Doctor sighs, "I understand perfectly well, Mack. But let's face it; you're not like everyone else."

I roll my eyes, "Duh! I could have told you that. But you said you were going to help."

The Doctor sighs, "I don't know if I can Mackenzie, I don't know….but I'll do my best."

I snort, "You sound like everyone else. Everyone else has said the same damn thing, Doctor."

"I am not everyone else, Mackenzie Dalton. Have a little more patience."

"Patience…..I haven't slept well in over sixteen years, Doctor. I see things that would terrify most people. I….I see things looming in the dark and in the shadows." I began to cry, "I just wish I was dead…."

The Doctor sighs and hugs me letting me cry into his coat,"No you don't….if that was true; you'd have killed yourself long ago. You're human; you still have that good old stubborn 'I will survive' instinct running through ya. Just like every other member of the human race, you're indomitable. You don't give up because….then that would be admitting defeat. And I know what humans hate the most and that's admitting defeat." He grins lightly.

"I am just so tired. So very tired….."

"Then sleep, Mackenzie. You can stay as long as you want in the TARDIS. It's the least I can do for someone who saved my life."

"But what if my mum's right?"

"Right about what?"

"That I am the one that's trying to kill you."

"That's nonsense Mackenzie….."

"Is it? Is it really, Doctor? Nothing tried to kill me till you showed up. Nothing. It's after you Doctor. It's after both of us. Something in the darkness is after you and it's trying to kill us both."

**XXXX**

**A/N: Short chapter….but I promise more soon. Hope you enjoy it. Please R/R **


	7. Who to Fear?

**Chapter Seven: Who to Fear? **

The Doctor's eyes went wide and then he shook his head, "No, Mackenzie. You are not to blame for this. It's not you. Yea it may be something around you, but it's not you. We just met and I know you wouldn't try and kill me."

I grin lightly, "Prove it."

"Okay, people who try to kill someone aren't scared to death in the process and they normally don't try and kill themselves in the process."

"I did say I just wished that I wanted to be dead."

"Point taken, but you're not suicidal, are ya?"

I smile, "You don't know. You go around with reasons as to why I wouldn't try and kill you, but what reasons would I have to kill you? "

"I am the only one that can help you."

I smile and nod, "But I want your help."

"But maybe something doesn't want me to help you."

"Maybe, I don't know. I never went around talking to the things that loom over me and scare me to death. I don't go around and ask…" I cough and then sarcastically pretend to have a conversation with the objects, the shadows, and the darkness that terrify me, "Excuse me, why are you making my life a living hell? Can you cut it out, please?" I then sigh and say, "Like I am going to ask something that scares the living shit out of me."

The Doctor laughs at my mockery and then his eyes brighten, "Mackenzie you're a genius. That's it we ask your objects why they are terrorizing you? And why they are trying to kill us?"

I go pale, well paler than I already am, "What…are you nuts?"

The Doctor's face remains serious and I realize that he is dead serious, "Oh God you _are _serious."

"Very serious, Mack, you're the connection to all of this. And what you're seeing is warning you and also trying to kill us both, but why? Since I can't see it, and you're the only one who can, I am going to ask you if I can do something."

"What are you planning to do?"

"I am telepathic, Mackenzie. I can see into your mind. I can link your mind with yours. It's the only way I can see what you're seeing. It's the only way I can help you."

I shudder, "You want to put your mind in mine. My mind is already crowded enough, what makes you think I want your mind in there to begin with?"

The Doctor laughs, "Rassilon, you're a stubborn girl."

I grin, "And proud of it. Is there any risk to this?"

"No, but I really don't know what's going to happen when I speak to your objects. We could end up opening another barrel of worms. We could die."

I groan a bit. My lips are around a sarcastic comment and I unleash it, "Oh thanks a lot, this_ is_ your fault, you know. My life was just fine till you came into it. At least all I had to fear was being loomed over by shadows, objects, and the darkness of night. Now you're saying we could die."

The Doctor grins, "Yep. Are you for it?"

I sigh, I am pretty resigned to my fate, "Yea, beats being terrified for the rest of my life, but if I am going to die. I want to see my mum first. No, I am not going to tell her I am going off to my death. Oh yea, like I am going to say that. I am not that stupid."

The Doctor chuckles, "Yea, I have known plenty of mothers. I could see how that conversation would go. But I think we should take the TARDIS to your home. I think we have had enough near death experiences at the moment."

I frown, "You're going to land your ship in our flat…uhhh…won't my mum freak if you land your ship in our flat? And your ship seems a bit big. I don't think that's even possible."

The Doctor grins, "Nah…. she won't freak. And as for my ship…I have squeezed her into even tinier places."

I sigh, I have my doubts, "Okaaay, don't say I didn't warn you."

**XXXX**

**A/N: Okay, I promised more and here it is. I hope you like this. Please R/R. **


	8. Home Safe?

**Chapter Eight: Home Safe? **

The Doctor taking my hand in his walked me to the front of his ship. It was a strange center console panel and he grins at me madly. I think he's showing off. "This is the TARDIS. Well the main part of her." He touches the console fondly. "She dematerializes from one spot and ends up rematerializing elsewhere. So Mackenzie Dalton, where exactly do you live? So I can program the coordinates in and we can be off."

"We live in the Powell Estates…"

The Doctor's smile suddenly left him and he frowns, "What?"

"My mum and I just moved in there. You see this flat opened up and well it was perfect for just the two of us, so close to our bookstore and all."

The Doctor sighs, "I see…."

I frown, is it just me or did it get a whole lot colder in here. The Doctor runs his hands through his hair. "You live on the upper levels?"

I nod and he grumbles a bit to himself. I can't quite understand what he's saying but I think I make out words like 'figures' and 'I should have known' and 'why there?'

He then turns back and smiles at me, "Sorry, just getting the TARDIS programmed. She can be very temperamental at times. Right Powell Estates...I know exactly where that is?"

"You do?"

"Yea..." but those words to me sound very cold and icy, as if there is dread about going there.

I watch him go to work on the instrument control panels and the ship shakes and quivers. What if this 'thing' falls apart, "Are you sure this thing is safe?"

The Doctor laughs, "Of course she's safe, why the TARDIS is the safest ship ever. Well most of the time…."

"Most of the time….you mean this thing could fall apart?"

"Well….uhhh she's fairly reliable and don't call the TARDIS a thing. She's a living organic machine."

"Oh well if that's all…." I say sarcastically.

"What you don't believe me?"

"Yea and pigs can fly."

"Technically one did fly once….well sort of, but that's a long story."

I roll my eyes a bit, this guy is clearly too weird to be human, even if he was, the ship or the TARDIS puts him way over the top. The TARDIS suddenly comes to a halt, "This is it…I hope "

He opens the door and he looks around and sighs, "Is this where you live? Ros…uhh Mack."

"Yes…" I come out and look around and see that the Doctor has landed right in my room. He sighs, "This room has changed quite a bit lately."

"What you've been here before?"

"Kind of…."

"Have you been spying on me?" Now I am getting a bit annoyed, this guy followed me, it's clear that he's been keeping an eye on me even longer.

"No, it's just that I knew the former occupants of your flat."

"Oh…"

The Doctor then grins. It's as if he doesn't really want to talk about it too much, "Come on you better see your mum before she freaks out."

I nod and before I leave I turn around and look at the Doctor's ship, "Wait a minute, since when do space ships come in blue boxes?"

"Mine does."

"Riiiight, there was a kitchen, and a bedroom, and a control room in there and you want me to believe that all that fits in a box."

"Yes."

"I am not moving till I get an explanation on how that can possibly be."

"Do you have to be this stubborn? You wouldn't understand it if I tried to explain it to you fully anyway."

"Try me, Doctor."

The Doctor sighs and takes out a Russian nestling doll. He opens them all up and shows me the little one. "See this little dolly here. Well it fits inside this bigger one and that one fits inside a bigger one and then that one fits inside an even bigger one. It's the exact same principle with the TARDIS except on a much bigger scale. Now do you understand?"

I sigh, I am not sure if I do or I don't. "I…uhhh….it's a bit much for my mind to work around."

The Doctor laughs, "That's what they all say. Come on; let's go meet the rest of your family."

I exit my room and we look around for my mum she's in the living room sipping tea, the phone near her.

"Hello mum."

She jumps, "Oh my God, where have you been? You just disappeared, I tried to ring you on your mobile but you ditched it, didn't you? You have been gone for almost two days. And you missed your appointment with Doctor Sanders. You know that canceling an appointment costs money and it's coming out of your pay. Here all this time I thought you were dead and you're roaming around London with some guy that came to see us yesterday. At least it's a guy, about time you brought a guy home."

The Doctor looks amused and he said, "I am Mack's new Doctor. I generally find…."

"Don't lie to me, you're no doctor. What would my daughter do hanging around a doctor for almost two days? You have to come up with a better lie than that, you made that up right off the cuff, didn't you?"

"I am a Doctor."

She then slaps him, "That's for lying and for causing me to worry about my girl."

She goes storming off in to the kitchen.

The Doctor rubs his cheek and sighs, "What is it about mothers? I knew this was a bad idea, Mack."

"Well I had to see her eventually, and at least it's good to know she was worrying about me." I suddenly shudder lightly, the room is suddenly feeling strange to me and everything is looming over me once more, "Doctor…."

"What's the matter Mack?"

"I think it's happening again…"

I look briefly into the kitchen and see the stove, but it looks as though the stove is belching fire. "Oh my God, it's the stove…."

I see my mum she's about to light a match. The Doctor runs into the kitchen and grabs the matches away from my mum.

"Hey do you mind? I was going to put on the kettle for some tea but the stove isn't working too well. I was going to light a match and…"

"Blow us up…."

"What don't be absurd, the stove is perfectly safe."

I gasp to see my mum take out a lighter from one of the shelves. The Doctor's eyes go wide, as he sees my mother about to light the stove with it, "Mack...run...get to the TARDIS."

I am running back to the TARDIS and I hear the whoosh of fire and feel heat behind me. I manage to make it back to the TARDIS. I fling open the doors….

XXXX

**A/N: I am evil, aren't I? hehe. Hope you like this chapter. Please R/R**


	9. Fire and Ice Cold Decisions

**Chapter Nine: Fire and Ice Cold Decisions **

I turned around hoping to find the Doctor. Fire was beginning to spread. I enter the TARDIS and sigh. Suddenly out of the smoke and haze the Doctor runs in with my mum, she's unconscious. "Oooh hot, hot, hot….."

"Doctor…is my mum, is she all right?"

"She'll be fine…oh a few burns but nothing I can't handle. I told her not to light the stove. Mackenzie Dalton, tell me is your mother always this dense?"

I snicker lightly, it is funny and yet it isn't. "She's my mum. She barely listens to me. I am supposed to listen to her. What do you think?"

The Doctor sighs, "I see….so even if I tell her something, she probably won't listen."

"Yep."

The Doctor groans for a moment and then he says resolutely, "Well she's not staying in the TARDIS, not extendedly. That's all I need is another hardheaded, stubborn, won't listen to reason mother. She's not staying Mackenzie, do you hear me?"

"Loud and clear, besides I really don't want her with us anyway. Don't get me wrong, I love her to bits but, I don't think I can stand her looming over me and nagging as well."

The Doctor sighed, "Let's get her in the infirmary and we're getting out of here, Mack. No offense but I don't want to be blamed for setting a fire."

"No offense taken."

We put my mother in the infirmary and he hands me some big old tub of some sort of ointment, "Put this on her."

"Uhh what is it?"

"It's burnt ointment from the sector known as the Ring of Fire, all from planets where people have to wear or use this ointment after visiting because it's hot enough to roast ya."

"You're making that up."

"No I am not. Put it on your mother, I promise you, it will grow back skin like nothing."

"Fine….and where are we going?"

"No idea…maybe the vortex. We'll be safe there."

"Vortex? What do you mean vortex?"

"Oh did I forget to tell you? How silly of me. This is not just any ordinary ship. She travels through Time as well as Space."

"What?"

"Yep, the TARDIS is one of a kind."

"But what's the vortex?"

"It's the vortex of time and space, Mack. The TARDIS can travel through it. And…" The Doctor sighs, "I don't want your mother hurt, Mack. As much as I really don't want her in the TARDIS, I am worried about her welfare. She nearly killed all three of us, and that means she's involved in this as well. I don't want to drag her into this and…"

"And what? We're still going through with what we had planned, aren't we?"

The Doctor looks over at my mother, and I sigh, "Oh you think she'll whine about it?"

The Doctor chuckles, "What do you think?"

"I think…what she doesn't know can't hurt her. I am tired of having to run away from the shadows and the objects that lurk in the shadows. I want you to do what you have to with me, even if it means we all die. I know I am sounding brave but, I am terrified. I don't want to die, Doctor. But I don't want to hide either."

The Doctor smiles, "Humans, I have spent over 900 years of my life with you guys and you still surprise me. Alright….we end this once and for all. But I am going to take us some place where it's very unlikely anyone else is going to get hurt."

"Where are you taking us, Doctor?"

"Out to the country, Mack. Far away from any people."

"Sounds fine to me, Doctor."

**XXXX**

**A/N: Another short chapter, but I had a bit of writers block writing this. Hopefully the next chapter will be better. Please R/R. **


	10. The Darkness Awaits

**Chapter Ten: The Darkness Awaits... **

I slather on burn ointment on my mum. I really have my doubts about this stuff. It smells like something crawled out of a hole and died somewhere. It really smells that bad, but then again I really hate medicine and medicinal treatments. I hate that medicine like smell. I only hope that my mum is not in pain or anything. But she's unconscious. I sigh and the Doctor comes back into the room, from what he calls a 'dimensional hop' I look at him, "She's not in pain or anything, is she?"

The Doctor sighs, "That I don't know. But she did get burned really badly, so she probably will be in pain, but that salve should help. It takes care of infections, heals dead skin and makes a good spread for a sandwich."

I make a face, "It smells disgusting, why would anyone want it in a sandwich?"

The Doctor grins, "Not for us, the alien race of the Aquvians who make that ointment love it. They brag that they can eat it as well as treat burns with it. It's made with a special type of seaweed."

I shudder, "Eww…."

The Doctor grins, "Well they like it. Anyway Mack, it's time…."

I sigh, "What do I have to do?"

"Relax for one. This isn't going to hurt….if there's something you don't want me to see just picture a door in your mind. I am going to touch your mind and link it with mine. What ever you're seeing, I will see."

I nod and watch as the Doctor carefully takes his hands and places them on my forehead. I feel a light pressure within my mind. The Doctor smiles lightly. "Hmm might explain why you're so vulnerable."

"Hey...I resent that."

"Sorry, you have a low level telepathic and psychic field. You were born with it. I can't do anything about that. If we survive this, you're going to have to learn how to deal with it. Usually a traumatic event causes your mind to be hyper stimulated and makes it stronger. Your father's death opened a lot of telepathic and psychic wounds in you. I could heal them, if you want after this?"

Part of me would like that, and yet, I know wounds are a part of life. I know that dealing with death and loss are a part of me. They hurt, but….somehow part of me wonders if it would be right to heal something that has made me, me. "I don't know…."

The Doctor smiles, "Take your time on that, there's no rush, Mack. We still have to face your shadows."

I nod. I frown suddenly, I am suddenly assailed with so many images and I look at the

Doctor, "You're alone…."

"What?"

"You walk through Time and Space alone. You have no place to go so you choose the life of a wanderer."

"Mack, that's enough…."

"I am only telling you what I see, Doctor."

Tears fill my eyes. "You walk through eternity…alone."

The Doctor shook his head, "Wait a minute….that's impossible. How can you?"

"Because you have wounds like mine, Doctor, they are deeper but I feel them and see them. Your planet died and your people died, like my father died and like others did. He burned. Just like your home. Just like your people."

The Doctor's head goes down as if he is defeated, "Don't go any further Mack, please….I beg of you….don't."

I grasp onto the Doctor's hand. "We are alike in some ways, Doctor and yet we are not. I….am sorry."

The Doctor sighs, "Come on Mack….we can't dwell on the past. We have to go forward."

He takes me by the hand and leads me through the TARDIS and we exit the TARDIS into a forest and at all times at night. I shiver at the thought of being in a dark forest where trees, darkness, and shadows are all around us.

The Doctor squeezes my hand, "Mack, I know you're frightened, but this time….you can't let it dominate you. When the shadows come, you're going to have to let them stay and not fight them. It's the only way we can end this."

I gulp, I am scared stiff. I can't see anything at all. I see the lights of the TARDIS close by as the Doctor and I wander deeper into the woods. I feel his hand, warm and comforting and I see the stars shining down on us; so many stars, millions upon millions and uncountable.

The Doctor smiles, "A lot of those stars have planets close by, that have people on them, Mack. Just like you and me. Yea, they're a bit different but they also have hopes, fears, and loves. Who knows, maybe a girl like you and someone like me are on a planet walking around in a forest like this right at this exact moment in time."

I smile lightly, it edges the fear away from me, there's something comforting about the thought that there might be someone exactly like me walking in the dark on a far away world.

The Doctor tenses and so do I, he feels it, as do I. The shadows are shifting together and hover over us. I am shaking in terror and the Doctor says to me quietly, "Come on Mack, don't shut your mind down, don't fear them. Let them through. I'll hold them back."

I force my mind to accept the terrors that are coming around us. I shiver and feel the Doctor support me, keeping the shadows from not going away.

The Doctor cries out, "Show yourself….I am the Doctor, I am the Last of the Time Lords, I demand you show yourself."

Inky blackness, blackness thick and dark shrouds us. A low level hiss fills the air, "Time Lord….." And other hisses fill the air, "Time Lord…..Time Lord…."

"No it can't be…" The Doctor says his voice rises in level and pitch, "You were banished. My people banished you."

I shudder, "Who are they, Doctor?"

"Something from the Dark Times, they are old very old, Mack. There have lots of names Mack, some call them Shadow Demons, others call them Nightmare, Dream Terrors. Among themselves they have the audacity to call themselves Abyss."

The shadows speak and hiss with laughter, "So wise….Time Lord. So wise…..we have waited so long."

The Doctor snorts, "What do you want of this girl? You have haunted her steps for most of her life."

"She's the one. The one….the one."

"What do you mean she's the one?"

"The key… the key …to our release to your reality. Her wounds and her abilities are our gateway."

"I see. And then what?"

"We must feed…..so very hungry. We know you Time Lord…..you stand in our way. We have tried so very hard to get rid of you."

I shiver, never before have the shadows and the objects I have seen have stand in my way or spoke. My legs feel like glue and I collapse on the ground unable to move.

"My people banished you to the void because you swallow up existence. You devour everything in your path. You'd devour everything and leave nothing but darkness. And you're right. I will stop you."

The shadows hiss, "Foolish Time Lord…..foolish Time Lord. You have already opened up the gate. You have forced the girl to set us free….."

The Doctor grins, "Yea, so I might not have been too bright on that but there's one thing I know you are afraid of…."

"What's that?"

"Me…."

He gathers me into his arms knowing that my legs are glue and we run. Running I can see the shadows coming after us. They devour everything in our path. Trees fade into the darkness. The sky above us goes dark. We reach the TARDIS and the Doctor opens the door and slams it shut as we enter inside the TARDIS. He plops me on the floor. Meanwhile he's working on the panels, "Okay old girl I hate to do this to you but we need you…."

"What are you planning to do, Doctor?"

The TARDIS lets out a howl of pain as the shadows try to devour her……

**XXXXX**

**A/N: I know, I am mean, I am very mean. But I am a quick updater so you shouldn't have too long to wait. :) **


	11. To the End of the Universe

**A/N: This chapter contains minor at the most very minimal spoilers for Utopia, The Song of the Drums, and Last of the Time Lords. It's not that much but it still hints towards it ever so slightly. **

* * *

**Chapter Eleven: To the End of the Universe **

"What are we going to do Doctor?"

The Doctor pulls out a strange looking device from a box of various tools. I frowned, where did that come from?

"I can't destroy them, Mack. That's why my people banished them. You see the Abyss are part of the natural order of creation and the universe. They were banished to the void to wait out till the end of time and the end of the universe. When the threads of creation get thin the Abyss are able to get free and devour everything and claim all to darkness."

The TARDIS moans once again in pain.

"So how in hell did they end up getting out now?"

"I don't know, Mack. Clearly you were the key for them all along. But somehow you kept them out. Humans, you have more strength and stamina than you realize at times."

I hear footsteps and I see my mum, she looks like hell, but I am glad to see her awake, at least she's alive. Although seeing the look on her face, maybe it's not a great thing that she's awake.

"Can someone tell me what the hell is going on?"

The Doctor gives her a hard glance, "I might have known you'd wake up right about now. Listen to me Natalie Dalton, and you're going to listen to me for once. Sit down and SHUT UP. Your daughter and I are trying to save the universe at the moment so you're just going to have to wait."

My mum looks like she's about to talk back but the Doctor gives such a nasty look at her she backs down and sits down.

The Doctor is madly connecting wires to a device.

"What is that?"

"It's a Tribophysical waveform macro-kinetic extrapolator. Long story, I got it in Cardiff."

"Cardiff!"

"Yep, Cardiff, wonderful place, they have really good banana milkshakes."

The Doctor manages to connect the device to the console and he grins, "There that does it. He pushes a few buttons and the inky dark blackness manages to make its way through the walls of the TARDIS but stops a few inches away.

"Hah….stopped by a force field!"

Meanwhile my mum cries out, "What the hell is that?"

I grin, I have no idea why. I guess I am slightly happy that I know what was haunting me for all this time is actually real and I say, "That mum, is my nightmares. They're the things that have stalked me for all these years."

There is a hissing, "You can not stop us….Doctor….a mere energy device can not stop us."

The Doctor chuckles, "I don't plan on stopping you. I just need a little more time."

The Doctor sets coordinates on the TARDIS. He sighs, "Never thought I'd end up back here again."

"What are you doing Doctor?"

The Doctor is quiet but I hear his voice in my head, that must mean our minds are still connected somehow. Although I thought that after seeing the Abyss, our minds wouldn't still be linked but I guess they still are. _Mack, I am taking the Abyss to the end of the universe and setting it free there. That's where __**it**__ belongs. Who would have thought that I would be the one starting the end of things myself? _

The TARDIS moans, I gasp to see the inky darkness edging closer and closer. It's managed some how to inch its way slowly past the force field. It's coming closer and closer. The room is getting darker.

My mum is crying, "We're going to die…."

"Shhh mum….."

The Doctor is working his controls some more, the walls of the TARDIS become transparent and I watch as the dark inky blackness is behind the walls as the TARDIS shifts from transparent to opaque. The Doctor quickly works the controls, I can feel the TARDIS shift away and the darkness is gone.

He grins, "Told you I'd get rid of it."

My mum is glaring at him, "Alright mister, you better have a good explanation for this."

The Doctor rolls his eyes, "I do. I just saved the human race again, for the umpteenth time."

My mother glares at him. "What? Where are we? What is this place? And who are you?"

The Doctor sighs, "Like I said, I just saved the human race, yet again and this is the TARDIS. And I told you before I am the Doctor."

"Doctor? Doctor Who?"

The Doctor rolls his eyes, clearly this isn't the first time he's been through this, "Just the Doctor."

**XXXX**

**A/N: Hope you have liked it. Not too many chapters left to this story. But it's been a fun time writing this out. **


	12. Here Begins a New Life

**Chapter Twelve: Here Begins a New Life **

Well we finally returned back to our flat, well what's left of it. Mum is mad as hell; she keeps saying it's the Doctor's fault. But I know it's not really the Doctor's fault, after all he wasn't the one who ended up lighting the stove. But I know better than to tell my mother that. Oh yea, like I am going to tell her it's her fault. We're going through our flat trying to salvage what's left. The Doctor has been quiet lately. I found him later on in my room. A few tears were going down his face. He has a book in his hands; I recognize it as the book he was looking for earlier from our bookstore.

I end up looking at it and find it turned to a page in the book.

_"In that book which is my memory, on the first page of the chapter that is the day when I first met you, appear the words, 'Here begins a new life.'"_

"Doctor…"

"Hmm…"

"Are you alright?"

"Yes, I suppose so."

I shake my head, "I don't think you are. You said earlier you knew the previous occupants of our flat."

"I did. The girl, she was about your age. Rose was her name."

"What happened to her?"

"She's gone."

"Dead?"

"No…" The Doctor grins, "Very much alive and her mother too. She and her mother were very much a part of my life."

I look at the book, "What's that?"

The Doctor smiles, "_La Vita Nuova_."

"Huh?" I don't know the name of that, it's not in English.

The Doctor chuckles, "It's Italian. It means, The New Life."

"Oh…"

The Doctor shifts around nervously, "Well it's probably about time I head off."

"You didn't pay for that book did you?"

The Doctor looks a bit sheepishly, "Uhh…..actually no. But don't tell your mother."

I grin and yell out, "Oh Mum….."

The Doctor's eyes went wide, "Now wait a minute here….maybe we can work something out. I mean technically, you did save my life a few times and…I helped you get rid of your 'problem'."

He pauses and then said, "Mackenzie Dalton, would you like to come with me?"

"I thought you'd never ask." I smile a mischievous smile, "Consider the book paid for Doctor."

"Now wait a minute here, did you just blackmail me, Mack? Because I get the feeling you did that on purpose."

I laugh lightly, "Maybe…."

My mum enters the room, "Did you ask for me, love?"

"Yea, I did. But I forgot what I was going to ask you, sorry."

She sighs and gives the Doctor a very dagger-ish look and then leaves.

I see the Doctor shudder lightly and I laugh, "Oh my God, you're scared of her."

"I am not."

"Yes, you are. I mean we had to deal with dark oblivion and you're scared of her."

The Doctor sighs, "Give me dark oblivion over someone's mother any day, Mackenzie Dalton. Come on we better get going before your mother says something about that as well. Plus I'd like to help you with your mental abilities as well, that is if it's alright with you."

"Sounds fine with me, I am up for a challenge." I call out, "I am going out, mum. I don't know when I'll be back."

I hear her call out, "What about your doctor's appointment?"

"I don't need one; I already have one with another Doctor."

The Doctor beams lightly and he smiles, "So Mack." He grins and seems a bit more light hearted now, "Here begins a new life…."

**XXXX**

**A/N: Okay that's the end of the story. I have grown quite attached to Mackenzie though, so I may write another story with her in the future. **** As for the quote, it's not exactly exact; the quote comes from Star Trek Voyager and from the following episode Latent Image. I love the way it's quoted though and so I used it. The way the actual quote, which is from Dante's Divine Comedy reads as follows: **_**"In that part of the book of my memory before which is little that can be read, there is a rubric, saying, 'Incipit Vita Nova'."**_** Thanks for reading and Please R/R **


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